Abstract: Objective:To study the feasibility and safety analysis of intercostal brachial nerve preservation in modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer.Methods:The data of sixty patients with modified radical mastectomy were retrospectively analyzed.Thirtyfour patients who underwent intraoperative intercostobrachial nerve preservation were set as the study group.Twentysix patients who did not had intercostal brachial nerve preservation during the operation were set as the control group.The situation of operation and hospitalization，the quantitative score of sensory dysfunctions，the location of postoperative sensory changes，quality of life score（QOL），complications and recurrence rate of one year followup for cancer patients were compared between the two groups.Results:The operation time of the experimental group（110.45±27.53）min，intraoperative blood loss（115.76±23.13）ml，lymph node dissection（12.65±2.77）and control group was（102.37±26.15）min，（108.55±21.49）ml and （11.78±2.52），respectively（P>0.05）.The length of hospital stays in the experimental group[（7.49±1.32）d] was significantly lower than that in the control group[（8.42±1.45）d]（P<0.05）.The quantitative scores of sensory dysfunctions in the experimental group at 1 month，3 months，and 6 months were（2.04±0.71），（2.87±0.84），and（3.25±1.06），respectively，which were significantly higher than those in the control group[（1.63±0.54），（2.12±0.72） and （2.56±0.93），respectively]（P<0.05）.The sensory change rates of the axilla，anterior，posterior，medial and lateral sides of the experimental group were 14.71%，5.88%，11.76%，8.82%，and 2.94%，respectively，which were significantly lower than those of the control group[34.62%，26.92%，23.08%，30.77%，15.38%]（P<0.05）.The total score of QOL in the experimental group（41.35±6.84）was significantly higher than that in the control group（32.45±5.67）（P<0.05）.The incidence of complications in the experimental group was 14.71%，which was not significantly different from the complication rate in the control group（11.54%）（P>0.05）.The recurrence rate of the experimental group was 8.82% with one year，and the recurrence rate of the control group was 7.69%.The difference was not statistically significant（P>0.05）.Conclusion:Retaining the intercostal brachial nerve during modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer can effectively improve postoperative sensory function，and has no significant effect on the surgical outcome and complications.It has high feasibility and safety，and can be based on the degree of tumor progression to flexible use.

Key words: breast cancer, modified radical, intercostobrachial nerve, sensory function, complications